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Jan 20, 2013
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had many speakers come this week and talk about the current polarization of congress. what you think about the polarization of congress? how can we bridge the gap going forward? >> is definitely polarized. the two political parties have changed dramatically in the last 30 years. when i came to work in the senate in 1976, both political parties were internally divided. each party had a liberal and conservative wing. you had some democrats that were more conservative than the rest of the republicans. every vote was a bipartisan vote. both groups tried to get the people in the middle to swing the way back and forth. political scientists thought this was terrible. what has happened is, over time, both political parties have become more internally cohesive. the basic reason for this is the southern states migrated from the democratic party, to the republican party. it held for internal cohesiveness. party leaders worked hard to keep their party conferences together. that means there is less middle ground to be able to pull over. this would be natural in any parliamentary go
had many speakers come this week and talk about the current polarization of congress. what you think about the polarization of congress? how can we bridge the gap going forward? >> is definitely polarized. the two political parties have changed dramatically in the last 30 years. when i came to work in the senate in 1976, both political parties were internally divided. each party had a liberal and conservative wing. you had some democrats that were more conservative than the rest of the...
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Jan 18, 2013
01/13
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where obama talked a big game about transparency, fulfilled a lot of transparency, don't get me wrong, but on something like that, the way washington works, those negotiations are not on c- span, they are in a room at the white house where deals are cut. it is sausage being made. that promise was not fulfilled, so that one earned a broken. host: what about his broader pledges on health care? guest: health care was an area where he had a fair amount of success. he kept 47% of the health-care promises. many of those were tucked inside the health care law, which of course passed in the first two years of his presidency when democrats controlled the house. so health care was an area where he had some of his biggest success. from caffeyhear from michigan on our democrats line. caller: good morning. i think the president has kept most of his promises. everyone he could possibly keep. i mean, the republicans have gone after him like nothing. but during the presidential election, you heard him say many times -- the republicans say -- "facts don't matter." they just do not care about facts. i
where obama talked a big game about transparency, fulfilled a lot of transparency, don't get me wrong, but on something like that, the way washington works, those negotiations are not on c- span, they are in a room at the white house where deals are cut. it is sausage being made. that promise was not fulfilled, so that one earned a broken. host: what about his broader pledges on health care? guest: health care was an area where he had a fair amount of success. he kept 47% of the health-care...
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Jan 17, 2013
01/13
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i've talked with president obama about this. he is extremely committed. i would like to see a number of other things. incidentally, senator durbin deserves every kind of honor and praise for what he has done with the dream act. he will be very important in this. >> good morning, senator. "the washington post" suggested yesterday that you present an obstacle to the passage of gun- control legislation. obviously, you do in a sense. but i am wondering if sort of standard -- the standard practice in congress should yield to what many perceive to be an extremely urgent situation. >> i think it is an urgent situation. that is why the first hearings held by anybody, house or senate, will be by me and my committee in that. i wasn't quite sure who they were talking about when they wrote the article, but i will strongly defend the press to write and print what they want, accurate or otherwise. but the fact is -- and i am not suggesting whether this was accurate or not -- but i will point out that i have a track record of getting legislation passed. some will say th
i've talked with president obama about this. he is extremely committed. i would like to see a number of other things. incidentally, senator durbin deserves every kind of honor and praise for what he has done with the dream act. he will be very important in this. >> good morning, senator. "the washington post" suggested yesterday that you present an obstacle to the passage of gun- control legislation. obviously, you do in a sense. but i am wondering if sort of standard -- the...
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Jan 20, 2013
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president obama has not been sworn in for his second term and he is already a lame duck. the biggest issues that we talked about today, gun control and immigration speaking out on both. marco rubio is one of the republicans trying to take leadership on the immigration issue and pushes party to do something on this issue. he also issued a statement defending second amendment rights after the president's speech this week. all the things we are do -- we are dealing with right now, we are already talking about how they will play into the campaign that is three years away. host: bob casey, from scranton, pa., where joe biden was elected to the senate back in 1972 at the age of 29. now, of course, he is the vice- president. hagerstown, good morning. caller: good morning. one quick comment on the gums, when i was a republican voting for reagan, i was in the military on the naval air station in virginia beach. i am a democrat now, for various reasons. when guns is one of them. no one is taking away the guns, that is a constitutional right, but semi-automatic and things that happe
president obama has not been sworn in for his second term and he is already a lame duck. the biggest issues that we talked about today, gun control and immigration speaking out on both. marco rubio is one of the republicans trying to take leadership on the immigration issue and pushes party to do something on this issue. he also issued a statement defending second amendment rights after the president's speech this week. all the things we are do -- we are dealing with right now, we are already...
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Jan 16, 2013
01/13
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i have talked with president obama about this. i know he's strongly committed to real immigration reform. would like to see the dream act passed. i'd like to see a number of other things and we'll work on it. one of your fellow graduates of georgetown, senator durbin, deserves every kind of honor and praise for what he's done in the dream act. he'll be very important in this. >> good morning, senator. "the washington post" had a piece yesterday suggesting that you represented perhaps an obstacle to the passage of gun control legislation. i'm wondering -- obviously you do in a sense. but i'm wondering if sort of standard practice in congress should yield to what many perceive to be an extremely urgent situation. >> i think it is an urgent situation and that's why the first hearings held by anybody, house or senate, is going to be by me and my committee in that. i wasn't quite sure who they were writing about when i read the article, but i will strongly defend the press right to print anything they want, accurate or otherwise, but t
i have talked with president obama about this. i know he's strongly committed to real immigration reform. would like to see the dream act passed. i'd like to see a number of other things and we'll work on it. one of your fellow graduates of georgetown, senator durbin, deserves every kind of honor and praise for what he's done in the dream act. he'll be very important in this. >> good morning, senator. "the washington post" had a piece yesterday suggesting that you represented...
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Jan 15, 2013
01/13
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and we must remember when we talk about rights, children have a right to be safe. so i applaud president obama and vice president biden for proactively taking the necessary steps to address this critical issue. it's going to take all of us united, regardless of party affiliation or our differing views on constitutional rights, to stem this tide of violence. more importantly we must take a hard look at funding for mental health services and other services. we must look at sinking technology -- syncing technology to ensure proper and tighter access to firearms. we must place adequate controls on ammunition. bottom line, we must protect our schools, our communities, children and families must be safe. i respectfully ask my colleagues to make this issue of violence a priority and to support our nation's leadership as they work through resolving this challenge which should not be difficult. if we compromise and keep focusing on saving lives. madam chair, i pledge to support you and to support all my other colleagues with the congressional black caucus to make a difficul
and we must remember when we talk about rights, children have a right to be safe. so i applaud president obama and vice president biden for proactively taking the necessary steps to address this critical issue. it's going to take all of us united, regardless of party affiliation or our differing views on constitutional rights, to stem this tide of violence. more importantly we must take a hard look at funding for mental health services and other services. we must look at sinking technology --...